Retractable worktable



Patent ed Apr. 17, 1951 RETRACTABLE WQRKQTABLE Giacomo Crosa and LuigiCrosa,

Genoa-Bolzaneto, Italy .Application-April20,1948,Serial N0.22, 166 ifInItalyApril29y1947,

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to a device for lifting into workingposition or for lowering into a resting or non-use position, implements,such as sewing machines, typewriters, radiosets, bar equipment and thelike;

According to one feature of the present invention, the implement to beplaced in diiierent positions is directly or indirectly supported bylevers under control of springs which counterbalance the weight andfacilitate'the displacement of the implement.

According to a further feature of the invention, one at least of thelevers is connected to a movable tube which is subjected, at one end, tothe reactionof a loading spring the load of which may be adjusted, theother end of the spring being connected to a fixed point of a cabinetpiece of furniture or other support.

According to a still further feature, additional levers cause theregular motion of the implement to be displaced from the position ofnon-use to that of work and vice versa.

In one of its embodiments, thedevice is characterised in that a. door,lid or the like of the piece ofyfurniture is connected to an actuatinglever acting directly or indirectly on the implement to displace it oron a surface which carries the implement.

According to this embodiment, the actuating lever has a movable fulcrumarranged on a small rod rotatable on a pivot fixed to the piece offurniture.

Furthermore, the end of the actuating lever is connected directly orindirectly to the implement to be displaced or to the surface whichcarries it, by means of a propping rod, this connection being made by atleast one universal joint.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of exam le a,preferred embodiment of the invention, Figures 1 and 2 show mutuallyperpendicular vertical sections along the planes 1-1 and II-II of Fig. 3which in turn is a plan view of the device; Fig. A shows, on a largerscale, a section of a detail. of the devicealong the. horizontal planeIV- IV of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a plan-view and Fig. 6 a section accordingto the plane 'VIVI of Fig. 5 respectively of the hinge preferably used.

The piece of furniture consists of two side panels I, .z a-rear panel 3and the'cover 5, connected by hinge 6 to one of the edges of the top.The typewriter, sewing machine or other im lement. is supported by shelfL-which, when lifted, reaches position 8, At both ends, shelf 1 isconnected to arms 9 and I0 which, by means of pivots H and i2, areconnected to the pair of arms l3 and i4. Arms M are mounted on pivots E5in bridge plate 16 fixed to panels I and 2. Arms l3, instead, areconnected to a tubular member I! engaged at both ends on cylindricalprojections i8 (Fig. 4) of discs I9. The lefthand disc in Figs. 1 and 4is fixed to the end 2a of a coil spring 2!, the other end of which 22 isfixed to a cylindrical element 23 having a series of radial holes 24 andhoused for rotationtherewith in the interior of tube H, which has atleast one hole 25 in register-with the holes 24 of element 23, tube l1and element 23 being locked together by the introduction of a pin orplug in holes 24 and 25.

Under shelf 7 is fixed a propping rod lfi which is connected at itslower end by, bolt 2! to a square member 28 (Fig. 2). Member 28 is partof a hinge 29 to the other side of which is connected one end of a smallrod 30, which at the other end, through a hinge 3| is connected toanother square member 32 pivotally connected by a pin 33 to the end of alever 34. This lever 3 1 with'crank 35 is articulated at 36 to one endof a second lever- 31 pivoted at the other end on fixed pin 38 supportedby panel I of the cabinet. The other end 39 of crank lever 34 isconnected to cover 5. In Figures 1 and 2, the lowered position is shownin full lines with ordinary reference numerals while the raised positionis in broken lines with the same numerals primed.

The hinge 6 may have a longitudinal slot 42 traversed by the lever 34,as shown in Figs. 5 andG. 1 The operation of the device is as follows:

According to the weight and volume of the implement placed on shelf 1, agreater or lesser rotation on its axis of tube I! will determine thetension of the spring 2| which will be fixed, by means of a pin goingthrough hole 25 and one of the holes 24, so as to balance almostcompletely the weight of the movable parts and of the implement placedon the shelf. The rotation of cover 5 in the directionof arrow 4.9through levers 34, 31, 30 and propping rod 26, will cause the lifting ofshelf 1 in the direction of arrow 4! m a pair of parallel motion linkagesystems connected to two opposed sides of the member each comprising twovertically spaced parallel links, a vertical movable strap rigidlyconnected to each said side of the member and pivotally connected to oneend of the two links and a second strap pivotally connected to theopposite end of the two links and fixed to a support, a vertical proprod depending from the underside of the member rigidly connected theretoand having a hinge connection at the lower end, a linkage systemincluding at least one universal joint and comprising a first linkconnected at its lower end to said hinge connection and situatedsubstantially alongside of said prop rod, an actuating link pivotallyconnected at one end to said first link and at the other end to a handactuated member movable between two positive positions of rest, and afulcrum link pivotally connected at one end to the support and at theother end to an intermediate point of the actuating link, and resilientmeans yieldably opposing downward movement of the supporting member fromraised to lowered position.

GIACOMO CROSA.

LUIGI CROSA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 969,938 Colegrove Sept. 13, 19101,057,809 Diehl Apr. 1, 1913 1,338,834 Kundtz May 4, 1920

